blueworks presents their ALM success story with customer BLS at DSAG

At today’s DSAG S/4HANA (Switzerland) meeting, BLS and blueworks presented the success story of the SAP ALM implementation project for the transformation to S/4HANA at BLS.

The presentation revolved around how an organization can agilely and successfully manage an SAP S/4HANA project and how consistent SAP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) can profitably contribute to this. BLS is currently on the path of the S/4HANA transition. To ensure that this can be successfully tackled, BLS has already established ALM processes in advance in order to be optimally prepared for the project.

Andreas Gafner (BLS) also cited this as a key takeaway: “Start early enough: experience and know-how on methods and tools should be gained at the beginning of the transition project to S/4-HANA – a parallel implementation of SAP ALM and the S/4HANA project often draws too many staff resources.”

He also made the point that while building Focused Build and training the core team is done relatively quickly, it still takes time to establish the mindset.

blueworks showed how the various roles in the project are broken down into transparent and manageable work units using the SAP Best Practices of SAP Activate and the results of the SAP Readiness Check from the requirement to the work package to the work item, how the solution is documented and, above all, how the documentation is later kept up to date.

Test Methodology was also addressed as a very important aspect and the automation possibilities were pointed out: “If not automate in the context with the S/4HANA project, then when?” was a recommendation from Stefan Thomann.

Stefan Thomann also pointed out the overall context of SAP ALM within the project and the organization: “It’s all about value and how you as an organization can achieve an optimal business/IT alignment based on transparency and governance and optimize the output by increasing efficiency. It’s not about tools, it’s about the right mindset, methodology and its processes and governance so that you can optimally meet the challenges in terms of transformations.”

In addition to this presentation, SAP also introduced Lean Conversion as a service based on Selective Data Transition and the idea, scope and approach of “Rise with SAP”.

At the end of the meeting, work group spokesman Heinz Rolli also summarized the presentations shown succinctly: “So as an SAP customer, you can do a Lean Conversion together with Focused Build and the customer has their systems under their own responsibility and control, or you cede more responsibility as an organization with “Rise before SAP.”